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CD: Open Wide

AND SAY AHHHH......

Picture this: a singer-songwriter and an acoustic bassist go into the studio to record a set of songs, voice and bass, no other accompaniment. And though the bassist is an accomplished jazz musician, this is to be strictly a singer-songwriter project, not a jazz recording at all. Myself, I can't help imagining all the things that could have gone wrong. So I am pleased to report that Open Wide is a surprising success.

To call the arrangments "spare" would be too generous. But bassist Stephan Crump's sweet tone, perfect intonation and deep feel for the rhythms underlying Jen Chapin's compositions form a smart and at times quite beautiful counterpoint to her understated vocals and thoughtful lyrics. The CD has the feel, not of a singer with an accompanist, but of an album-length duet of two equal voices. At the same time, the structure focuses the listener's attention on the words and melodies, which do reward a close listen.

Indeed, without Chapin's strong songwriting, this CD might have been nothing more than an interesting experiment. Instead it shines, from the Latin-jazz-flavored pop of "NYC" to the bluesy drawl of "Open Wide" to the chamber-funk of "Way" with its powerful statement of self-reliance:

     There was a day when sweet talking would satisfy me
     Or a way I'd allow myself to pretend
     A day when I'd settle for your cheap candy
     That day is at its end

My favorite track is the highly hummable "Passive People." Even as it pays musical homage to the early pop-rock of more innocent days (think "Up on the Roof" or "Save the Last Dance For Me"), the song indicts our tendency in the face of crime and injustice to "let the outrage melt away" even as we "cry for lonely people at the movies."

Despite its minimalism, this album is no mere musical snack. It's a hearty main dish in the ongoing feast that is Jen Chapin's career. And bassist Stephan Crump, master of many genres, is no chopped liver.

Artist websites:
WWW.JENCHAPIN.COM
WWW.STEPHANCRUMP.COM

CD: Cry

NOT THE KIND YOU TIPTOE THROUGH

Tulip Sweet's second album Cry owes something to Martha and the Muffins, Jacques Brel, the Doors, and maybe even Tiny Tim, with references to Kurt Weill, circus music, and surrealism. But behind its playfulness, this carnival of a band has a lot to say.

Tulip Sweet and her Trail of Tears consists of singer Steph Dickson, multi-instrumentalist Tom Siler, and secondary musicians who contribute drums, accordion, musical saw and more to the recording. Songwriters Dickson and Siler put on a fantastically energetic live show as a duo, and Cry captures their live attack, not completely but enough.

The album's over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek musical arrangements perfectly set off its lyrical themes of obsession and excess. "In 2 the Night" uses sledgehammer drums to lure the listener into the amusement park of the band's twisted psyche, and the rest of the album delivers on the promise. "Couple Utopia" is a four-minute mini-symphony of selfish love ("Together we'll grow old/While winos freeze alone in the cold/We'll buy a little place in Florida/With successful drinks and chess"). Many songs, like "Constant State of Desire," "According 2 Plan," "About My Baby" and the astounding "I Live 4 the U That Lives In My Mind" chronicle obsessive love and lust, while "We Munch Alone" is as harrowing a depiction of loneliness as any sad clown ever mimed.

Tulip's obsessions sometimes turn aggressive. In the pulp science fiction world of "Goodmorning Boyfriend," cockroaches take over the world while silicone-enhanced bimbos melt in an apocalyptic inferno:

     It makes me happy and not so lonely
     To think of how the pretty ones will roast.

The character of Tulip finally makes a named appearance in the death tale "Violets 4 Piggy":

     There'll be no more teardrops for Tulip
     There'll be no more lolling on the phone
     There'll be no more rolling in the clover 'neath the Moon
     For Miss Tulip is sending herself home.

Let's hope Miss Tulip doesn't stay holed up for long. Our ADHD culture is a patient whom all known medicines have failed. Tulip Sweet's hardball, goofball rock could be just the radical surgery the doctor ordered.

Artist website: WWW.TULIPSWEET.COM